With a Dolphin Smile
by ArboursGreen
Summary: Tina's Sweet Sixteen is not going the way she expects. For one, she's at a pirate restaurant. For two, Quinn's water just broke all over her new shoes.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:** So apparently my muse is only working part-time 'cause it looks like I can only fill out fluff prompts nowadays. Oops. This is a response to a prompt where Quinn's goes into labor on Tina's birthday while the gleeks are at a gimmicky restaurant. This is part 1 of 2. This turned out much longer than I expected as you will see, but I hope you like it anyways =)

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't own a thing.

* * *

Tina expects many things on her sixteenth birthday.

She looks forward to her mom's amazing birthday brownies, hanging out (and maybe making out) with her very first boyfriend, maybe winning a trophy at Regionals, and of course to run into Madame Serena who will give her magical witchy powers that will turn her popular and let her sidekick participate in the most awkward rap battle of all time.

Okay, so the last one is totally the plot to _Teen Witch_.

Whatever.

The point is Tina does not expect Quinn's water to break all over her brand new leather boots while standing around waiting for a table in a tacky pirate themed restaurant off of Highway 270.

Naturally, it's basically chaos from there.

Rachel rushes over to help Quinn sit down and do her breathing exercises, Mr. Schue tries to figure out where the nearest hospital is, and Kurt looks positively green and is hanging on to their second place trophy for dear life.

"Fuck! Fuck!" Puck says and tries to stomp his way to the kitchen to get hot water.

"Puck, I am not having a baby in a restaurant by a highway!" Quinn manages to glare and wince at the same time. She clutches her stomach as if trying to keep the baby from falling out. Which, Tina is really hoping it won't.

"I'm having this thing in a proper hospital, like a normal person! Hey, you!" Quinn tries to get the attention of their panicking, pimply faced server.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod," he mumbles to himself, eyes wide.

"Listen to me, you idiot. If you don't tell Mr. Schue where the hospital is _right now,_ I will beat you to death with your own peg leg!" Quinn yells. Then after what looks like a particularly painful contraction, she adds, "_And no one will miss you_."

Shocked into action, the server runs over to Mr. Schue, the stuffed parrot on his shoulder awkwardly flapping with his movement, and jots down directions, shaking hands visible from a few feet away.

"Holy crap," Artie breathes.

Tina stands stock still, thinking the same thing until Mike jolts her out of it.

"Dude, you've got like, _placenta_ on your shoes," he informs her helpfully.

Of course, Rachel decides this would be the best time for a women's health lecture.

"Mike, it's not placenta, it's amniotic fluid. This occurs during—"

"Oh my God, Rachel. _Shut up, shut up, shut up!" _Quinn exclaims. She clutches at her stomach again, face red, and bites down on her lip.

Thankfully, Mr. Schue appears again interrupting another murder threat from Quinn.

"We'll take the bus there," Mr. Schue says firmly, franticness creeping into his voice.

For the most part, the gleeks get on the bus in what feels like record time. And although nobody says anything when Artie's chair lift takes what seems like an eternity, everyone is glad that Quinn is luckily between contractions, and she's no longer making death threats.

On the bus, Puck tries to sit with Quinn, but she gives him one look and he moves to the back, tail between his legs. Mr. Schue hands the directions to the bus driver, telling him a baby is on the way and motions for Rachel to come and sit in front with Quinn.

"No!" Quinn says firmly. "Not Rachel, Mercedes. I want Mercedes to sit with me."

"Mercedes?" Mr. Schue looks confused for a second but gestures for her to sit up front with Quinn.

Even though she's also baffled as hell, Mercedes releases the death grip on she has Kurt's hand and he gives her a quick reassuring smile before she makes her way down the aisle to Quinn's seat.

As she sits down next to Quinn she can't help but give her a questioning look.

Exasperated, Quinn says "Look, I just can't deal with questions about how far I'm dilated right now."

Mercedes tries but fails to hide her expression at that one.

"_Girl…."_ Mercedes drawls.

Then Quinn winces and clenches her jaw and Mercedes slips her hand into Quinn's. Because even though in the third grade Quinn had some of her friends put dirty sandbox sand in her lunchbox , and they've never really talked all throughout high school, the girl is still a teenager who is about to push a several pound baby out of her…area.

And Mercedes thinks the least she could do is sit next to her and hold her hand.

"Hey, can you step on it please?" Tina tells the bus driver, leaning forward in her seat.

He obliges, swerving a little bit and Tina thinks briefly that if he keeps going at this speed Quinn might have to give birth by the highway after all—in a ditch.

* * *

When they all finally get to the hospital Quinn is whisked away and the glee club is left to crowd the waiting room. Most of them are calling their parents to tell them they'll be late, but Puck stands in middle of them, silent and still, hand clutching the straps of Quinn's purse so hard his knuckles are white.

Tina sits down in an uncomfortable chair next to Artie and he slips his hand into hers. They smile at each other. The upcoming birth of Baby Fabray has him thinking about the future. When the baby is two, they will be in college. And, he can't help thinking about where he and Tina will be. His parents have started slipping him some college brochures and he's pretty sure Tina- He's interrupted from his thoughts as Puck loudly curses and shoves Quinn's cell phone back in her bag.

"No one's answering," he snarls to no one in particular.

"Maybe they've got, um, caller id?" Tina replies quietly, hesitantly. She fumbles around with her own cell phone. "I'll try calling." She punches in the numbers Puck gives to her, aware everyone is watching her intently.

There is an answer on the second ring.

"Fabray residence," says a female voice. And even from miles away on a phone, Tina instantly feels a little bit chilly.

"Hi, um, Mrs. Fabray?"

"Yes, this is she."

"Hi, my name is Tina Cohen-Chang? I'm in glee club with Quinn?" Tina knows she is speaking in questions all of the sudden, but she doesn't care because Mrs. Fabray's Ann Coulter-brand of icy scariness is well, terrifying.

"Quinn's having her baby," Tina continues.

"I see," Mrs. Fabray replies.

"Well, I'm sure Quinn would like—"

_Click._

"Dammit," Tina whispers. She walks over to Puck because the last thing she wants to do is to say this in front of the whole club. "Um, I don't—I don't think she's coming," she says softly.

"Whatever," Puck growls. "I'm calling my mom."

While Puck's on the phone with his mom, voice shaky, a nurse comes out to summon him.

"You're the father?"

Puck nods.

"Let's get you scrubbed up," she says briskly, and Puck follows behind like a confused kid, Quinn's purse swinging limply from his hands.

When Tina goes back to sit with Artie, her ruined shoes the last thing on her mind.

Eventually, Mr. Schue tells everyone to board the bus again as the bus company charges extra for additional hours and Figgins is, as always, near the end of his rope with the club.

* * *

It's nearly 11:30 by the time Mr. Abrams gets Tina to her house. Tina thanks him for the ride and kisses Artie before going in. And although they've been going out for a little while, her stomach still flutters, her entire body feels like it heats up and he still grins that doofy grin at her after they kiss. He looks like he wants to say something, but he doesn't so she doesn't push him. Instead, she exits the car and makes sure to give him a little wave from the living room window once she gets inside.

The house is quiet, as her parents are already asleep and she finds a tray of brownies and a card from them on the dining room table. It's only then that she remembers that it's her birthday.

In her room, she answers a call from Artie while munching on a brownie.

"Hey, Artie," she answers, mouth full of chocolate.

"Hey, girl," he says as a greeting, and she bites her lip to keep from giggling. "So, I um, I kind of forgot it's your birthday," he mumbles.

She laughs. "It's okay. A lot happened today; also I think I have to throw away these boots. Actually, I forgot about the birthday too until I saw my parents' presents."

"Really? What'd they get you?"

"Ummm…hold on a sec," Tina answers and there's some noises of items shifting as she puts her brownie down on her nightstand and opens the envelope. "Okay, so aside from an extremely cheesy Hallmark Sweet Sixteen card I got…an iTunes gift card and a Hot Topic gift card with explicit commands not to spend it all on hair dye." Tina listens to Artie's warm laughter. "Seriously, it's in all caps!"

"You're awesome, Tee."

"You're awesomer."

"Hey, Tee?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think—" but Artie's question is interrupted by Tina's loud yawn. He smiles.

"What?"

"No, it's okay, we can talk later. You should get some sleep; I know how you get when you're tired."

"How do I get?" she asks in a mock warning tone.

"Grouchy," he answers decisively.

"I do not!"

"Tee, people fear for their lives when you haven't had enough coffee."

"Okay, maybe a little."

Artie snorts.

"Maybe a lot. Goodnight, Artie. For real this time."

"'Night, Tee. See you tomorrow."

* * *

It's several days later, and things are as normal as they can be considering. The glee club is generally unsure about what to do for Quinn. The executives at Hallmark don't watch enough reality MTV for this kind of thing, a Get Well Soon balloon is sure to not go over well, and a cheery "Congratulations!" doesn't sound right. So instead, they settle for sending her some nice flowers and assurances that they'll all be there for her when she comes back.

Quinn still hasn't made it back to school and Puck is out as well. Everyone knows Quinn gave her daughter to a nice young couple so she's not out on maternity, but no one protests. It's a little weird to have two people missing from glee at once and sometimes Finn gets this faraway look on his face, but for the most part things are getting less tense by the minute.

On Thursday, Tina is gathering her books before glee when Mercedes and Artie approach her.

"Hey Tina," Mercedes says cheerfully. "Practice is in the auditorium today."

"Yeah, we'll walk you!" Artie adds.

"Oh, I have to use the restroom first, you guys go ahead," Tina says.

"Uh, we can…we can wait," Mercedes says.

Tina looks at the both of them suspiciously, eyes narrowing. Mercedes is dressed a little weirdly, and Artie in particular looks like he is trying to channel Jazzy Jeff.

Artie sighs.

"We should tell her," he says to Mercedes.

"What do you want to tell me?" Tina says slowly.

"Hell, no!" Mercedes declares to Artie, one hand on her hip.

"Seriously, you guys, _what?"_ Tina nearly shouts.

"We have a surprise for you."

"For your birthday," sighs Mercedes. "We were gonna surprise you at Pirate Pete's but then Quinn had her baby so….," Mercedes continues.

"We prepared a little birthday performance for you," Artie says, eyes gleaming mischievously.

Tina grins. "Oooh, will there be cake?"

"Girl, have you been hanging out with Finn lately?"


	2. Chapter 2

When Tina gets to her front and center seat at the auditorium, Artie and Mercedes go backstage. Rachel, who is dressed in her costume from their "Funk" number, is standing in front of the curtain, a huge smile on her face.

"Tina, since you're the last of us to turn Sweet Sixteen, and the surprise celebration we planned for you was postponed by the arrival of Quinn's child, we, the glee club would like to present you with a birthday number! Please keep in mind that although I appreciate constructive criticism, we've only had a couple days to plan this so the choreography might be a little choppy in places and the integration of the lyrics themselves—"

"_Rachel, just get on with it_!" Tina hears someone hiss from behind the curtain. Tina giggles.

"Happy Sweet Sixteen, Tina!" Rachel declares. The curtain goes up and Tina smiles so wide her cheeks hurt as she sees all the gleeks behind Rachel, all dressed in their "Funk" finery.

What follows is a mash-up of The Beatles' "Birthday" and "In Da Club" that is so hilarious Tina clutches at her sides and has tears in her eyes from laughing so hard. Of course, they had to cut out a good 90% of the 50 Cent song for content, but Artie rolls himself to the front of the stage and his baby blues are locked onto Tina as he sings: "_Go, go, go, go/Go, go, go shawty /It's your birthday /We gonna party like it's yo birthday /We gonna sip Bacardi like it's your birthday_" and Tina blushes bright crimson because it's the first time he's ever sung _to_ her and it is pretty hot.

By the time Brittany and Mike are grinding and doing splits and popping and locking, Tina runs up on the stage to join everyone. She dances with Kurt and Mercedes, Artie does a surprisingly good approximation of spinning her, and even Santana is smiling.

Everyone is breathless when the song ends and from the sidelines Mr. Schue looks downright proud, although he's completely given up on having a normal rehearsal today. Rachel brings out a huge Tupperware container of her birthday sugar cookies and everyone wishes Tina a happy birthday while gorging themselves on sugar.

"Coach is gonna have my head for this," Santana mumbles to herself before stuffing the cookie into her mouth.

Then someone turns the boom box up and the dancing begins again.

Mike attempts to teach Rachel and Finn to pop and lock (it's a little embarrassing for everyone involved), Santana and Brittany look like they're practicing moves that are too dirty for National Cheerleading Association regs (Matt is entranced), while Tina sits in Artie's lap and he spins them both.

She worries that she might be too heavy for him and is about to say so but doesn't because he is currently grinning at her like she's simultaneously cured world hunger and solved cold fusion. So instead she tightens her arms around his neck, teases him about his 50 Cent impression and grins back.

* * *

Later that night, Tina is awakened by the sound of her phone vibrating against her nightstand.

Groggily, she answers it. "Hullo?"

"Tina?" Artie whispers.

"Artie? Artie Abrams do you know what time it is?"

"Ummm…1:37?"

Tina sighs.

"What's up, Artie?"

"I can't sleep….aaand I forgot to give you your present today."

Tina smiles, still feeling a little bit bleary-eyed. "You know you can just give it to me tomorrow—today- right?"

"That's what she said."

They both burst out laughing.

"Artie!"

"Ok, ok. But…now that you're up—"

"Because you woke me—"

"—do you wanna come over?"

"It's 1:30."

"Please?"

Tina sighs.

"Fine, but remember leave your window open. And this better be a really nice present…and we're totally stopping by Starbucks tomorrow."

"Window and coffee. Got it."

"Okay, see you in 10."

Tina gets out of bed, slips on her Chucks and a light jacket and as quietly as she can, avoiding that one floorboard in the hallway that always creaks, leaves her house.

* * *

A bit later, she's standing in Artie's bedroom blinking rapidly while her eyes adjust to the darkness.

"Hey," Artie says and smiles.

From the brightness of the full moon, she can see him sitting up against his headboard, and makes out what looks like some issues of _Wired_ magazine at the foot of the bed. He lifts open the blanket from the corner and pats the spot next to him.

"Hi," Tina says shyly. Although she's snuck into his room before, this is the first time she's done it as his _girlfriend_ and the first time she gets under the covers with him. Still, she toes off her shoes and gets in.

It's a bit heady, actually, being there. She's in his room, surrounded by his sheets and _him _and everything that smells of him. It's also comforting, not that she'll ever admit it. She cuddles up next to him and he puts his arm around her. She places her head over his chest, listening to his heartbeat.

"You're wearing a t-shirt," she says. Artie laughs.

"I am. You don't think I sleep in suspenders, do you?"

"Sorry about my attire," she says looking down at her tank top and pajama pants. "_Someone_ made me leave in a hurry."

"You have nothing to worry about, girl. You _fine."_

Tina muffles her laughter against his duvet.

"You're just saying that because I'm your girlfriend."

"Well, you're a fox. _And_ because you're—"

"Artie if you say I'm your ho fo sho' I'm leaving," Tina totally lies.

Now they both struggle to laugh as quietly as they can.

Tina leans up to give him a quick peck on the lips. Only, he deepens it and what else is she supposed to do but reciprocate? Especially once his hand is threading through her hair and his fingers are rasping against her scalp. She ends up straddling him as he presses his lips hard against hers, his tongue flitting out hesitantly. Her hands tighten reflexively against his sides.

Artie is having the time of his life considering he's experiencing every red-blooded teenage boy's fantasy come true.

"Artie," she whispers directly into his ear as he kisses his way down her neck.

"What?" he pants.

"Where's that present you promised me?"

Artie laughs. "One track mind, Tee. Here, it's right beside the bed." Tina climbs up off of him as he reaches down and comes back with a little bag stuffed full of tissue paper.

She excitedly pulls apart the paper and comes back with her present.

"Oh, Artie," she breathes. "It's beautiful." She leans back against Artie as he wraps his arm around her again.

Tina holds the snow globe up to the shaft of moonlight streaming from the window. The swirling "snow" is actually tiny silver and gold leaves that glint in the light. Inside the globe is park bench beneath a tree. It is fall and in the background are a city's familiar Art Deco buildings.

"Artie, this is—how did you—"

"Tina, you talked non-stop about New York City when you came back from your aunt and uncle's last summer. And everyone talks about it like it's Rachel's thing or Kurt's thing, but I know you want to go there too," he whispers.

There are tears in her eyes as he kisses the top of her head.

"I know you'll get there eventually. Maybe you'll become an insufferable hipster at NYU?"

Tina laughs, and sniffles a little bit.

"Not a hipster, my legs don't look good in skinny jeans. And Columbia."

"Really?"

"Really."

"Okay, so you're at Columbia. And here is your bench in Central Park." Artie places his hand gently over Tina's and inverts the globe so the leaves are swirling again. "It's fall, there's that crisp fall air you love, and you can hear cabs in the distance. After this, you'll go back to your little apartment to study."

"That's beautiful, Artie, thank you," Tina says trying to place all of the sincerity she can muster in her words. Artie grins at her. "There's only one thing…"

"What?"

"Where are you?"

Artie feels his face heat up. Now is his moment, the thing he has wanted to ask her for the past few days is on the tip of his tongue.

"I—I don't know. Where do you think I am?" he asks hesitantly.

"I'd like to think you're with me. I hope. I mean—if you even want—I know your parents went to OSU and—"

"I want to be with you too."

They beam at each other.

"Ok, then. _We _go back to _our _apartment," Tina says determinedly, turning back to their little scene in the globe.

"Where do we live?"

"Oh, a tiny one-bedroom place."

"Jeez, Tee, you can't even live a little in our fantasy?"

"I'm just being realistic! We're on a student budget, maybe I'll take a part-time job but we still live in an expensive city, Artie. We live in a little one-bedroom. Maybe down the block from one of those grocery stores that has bars on the windows and only sells bruised fruit."

Tina can feel more see Artie making a face. She bumps her shoulder gently to his side.

"But don't worry, I make you take me to the Farmer's Market every weekend," she continues.

"And we'll go to the MoMA," he adds excitedly. "I'll make fun of the modern art installations and you'll pretend to be offended."

Tina giggles.

"I'll buy you a hot dog from a street vendor. And for Hanukkah, I'll make you latkes and set off the fire alarm, and you'll—"

"Artie, I love you."

"—make me—wait, what?"

"I love you," Tina says, and puts her snow globe down so she can look him in the eyes.

"Yeah?" Artie asks dazedly. He's smiling like a total dweeb and it kind of feels like the room is spinning but he doesn't care because—"I love you too, Tee."

They seal it with a kiss, only to break apart when Artie yawns.

"Oh, god, it's 3 in the morning!" Tina exclaims.

"You wanna stay here, tonight? I'll set the alarm an hour earlier." Tina nods and Artie fiddles with his alarm clock. She lies back against his side sleepily. When he turns back to her, he pulls the covers over the both of them and sets the snow globe on his nightstand.

"Happy Sweet Sixteen," he whispers into her hair, but she's already asleep.

Tina drifts off into dreams of autumn in New York, crisp orange-red leaves and laughing on a park bench with the boy she loves.

* * *

A/N Oh god, is anyone still there? Good, I was worried you all might've passed out from the sugar shock! This was much fluffier then I intended, lol. The title for this piece is from the No Doubt song "Sixteen". Please review! It's like candy for me ;)


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